Sorelle Saidman Book?

[Brunzopolis]

The books likely on hold, like Canters book was, but he probably paid her a little just to make sure it didn't appear. He probably didn't want it out before the release of CD, in case it distracted too much attention away from the album. I think we can safely say the book would have definitely received far more attention. Maybe it'll appear in a few years but I think it's unlikely after 7 years. Someone should contact her though, and see if there's a possibility of a interview on the forum.

Yeah some one should message her on FB and ask what is the status, the book seems interesting and it seems a lot of hard work has gone to write it. Even I think Axl or TB paid her to Hush Hush over the whole thing

So this doesn't turn into a...

"I didn't do it. I thought YOU were going to do it"

"I didn't do it either. I thought YOU were!"

...type of deal: I'm not on FB and have made it a goal never to be. So I'm out. There is some other contact info for her out there, but maybe FB would be best.

[Słash]

The books likely on hold, like Canters book was, but he probably paid her a little just to make sure it didn't appear. He probably didn't want it out before the release of CD, in case it distracted too much attention away from the album. I think we can safely say the book would have definitely received far more attention. Maybe it'll appear in a few years but I think it's unlikely after 7 years. Someone should contact her though, and see if there's a possibility of a interview on the forum.

Yeah some one should message her on FB and ask what is the status, the book seems interesting and it seems a lot of hard work has gone to write it. Even I think Axl or TB paid her to Hush Hush over the whole thing

So this doesn't turn into a...

"I didn't do it. I thought YOU were going to do it"

"I didn't do it either. I thought YOU were!"

...type of deal: I'm not on FB and have made it a goal never to be. So I'm out. There is some other contact info for her out there, but maybe FB would be best.

Her last activity was in 2013, I messaged her, but there are high chances that she is not active on FB, so well lets see if she ever replies or not

[Brunzopolis]

Her last activity was in 2013, I messaged her, but there are high chances that she is not active on FB, so well lets see if she ever replies or not

Nice. Thanks for doing that.

[Tom2112]

I would have assumed Axl would have put the cease and desist on the Mick Wall book if he had that power. It is strange that it was so far along, and then for it to stop so suddenly in it's tracks. I see why there's a lot of speculation that he did stop it... it would have made more sense for him to be a part of the book and ask for final say on the interviews he offered, so he could clear up some of the myths surrounding him.

I got more and more confused with each additional sentence you wrote, here.

...The book that was supposed to be released by Sorelle Saidman? that comment wasn't my finest work I'll admit, but I think we all know what the thread is about without writing Sorelle Saidman's book every ten sentences and the gist of the message is there.

In plainer / simpler english. If he (Axl) was going to block a book, Why not block Mick Walls book, it was a completely negative look at his career and personal life and the author (MW) and Axl had a very public falling out, giving the author (MW) no reason whatsoever to give a fair and balanced depiction of the man. Contribute to the Sorelle Saidman book and ask for final say on any interview that he gave before the book would be set for publishing, ensuring everything said was his own words, not misquotes etc. By doing this it clears away some of the stories that surround him (Axl) and the new gnr and he can move on with his life / career, and GnR fans don't have to speculate endlessly.

Hope that's clear enough for you, otherwise you can go and... fill in the blank

Alright, I wasn't trying to instigate anything. There was just some pronoun confusion on my end I guess. All is cool.

Back on topic:

Sure, Wall's book was on the negative side, but there wasn't anything negative in it, that was also substantive. Just rehashings of old stories that everyone knows, told in Wall's slightly nasty, skeptically toned, voice. If Axl read that book, he probably just thought: "Oh good ole' Mick. Still being a hack and a cunt after all these years."

He didn't have any "scoops" or anything. But I bet Saidman did/does.

I wasn't trying to start anything either, I was just having a bit of fun

[DieselDaisy]

Her last activity was in 2013, I messaged her, but there are high chances that she is not active on FB, so well lets see if she ever replies or not

She is in the 'vault'. They have captured her and placed her in the 'vault', just like they did to Tobias.

[spunko12345]

One of the goons most probably had a word on orders from The Family.

[niceguy]

Awesome, so excited for this Sadie Hawkins movie. Wait, wtf are we talking about?

[stella]

Axl really wouldn't have any legal grounds to stop the book, any more than any other book that has been written about him. Unauthorized celebrity biographies are legal and I can't think of a judge who would side with him on it.

My hypothesis: if this was supposed to come out around the time CD did (2006 - 2008ish), it might be possible that the publisher pulled or indefinitely postponed the book after CD flopped. It is also possible there was some sort of changing of the guard at HarperCollins - it happens all the time - and the new editors weren't as high on this as the old ones, so again they indefinitely shelved it. It's not a celebrity memoir and it's always possible that they felt there wasn't a market for it (false, IMHO, but book publishers don't always get things right).

Edited February 24, 2015 by stella

[alfierose]

Axl really wouldn't have any legal grounds to stop the book, any more than any other book that has been written about him. Unauthorized celebrity biographies are legal and I can't think of a judge who would side with him on it.

My hypothesis: if this was supposed to come out around the time CD did (2006 - 2008ish), it might be possible that the publisher pulled or indefinitely postponed the book after CD flopped. It is also possible there was some sort of changing of the guard at HarperCollins - it happens all the time - and the new editors weren't as high on this as the old ones, so again they indefinitely shelved it. It's not a celebrity memoir and it's always possible that they felt there wasn't a market for it (false, IMHO, but book publishers don't always get things right).

There may well be some truth in this, it would suck to think it was shelved considering some of the vapid D listers that still seem to have biographies churned out.

[stella]

Axl really wouldn't have any legal grounds to stop the book, any more than any other book that has been written about him. Unauthorized celebrity biographies are legal and I can't think of a judge who would side with him on it.

My hypothesis: if this was supposed to come out around the time CD did (2006 - 2008ish), it might be possible that the publisher pulled or indefinitely postponed the book after CD flopped. It is also possible there was some sort of changing of the guard at HarperCollins - it happens all the time - and the new editors weren't as high on this as the old ones, so again they indefinitely shelved it. It's not a celebrity memoir and it's always possible that they felt there wasn't a market for it (false, IMHO, but book publishers don't always get things right).

There may well be some truth in this, it would suck to think it was shelved considering some of the vapid D listers that still seem to have biographies churned out.

I have to agree. When the Kardashians have numerous (ghostwritten) books out and this Axl book can't see the light of day, it's pretty sad.

[aranrod]

Axl really wouldn't have any legal grounds to stop the book, any more than any other book that has been written about him. Unauthorized celebrity biographies are legal and I can't think of a judge who would side with him on it.

My hypothesis: if this was supposed to come out around the time CD did (2006 - 2008ish), it might be possible that the publisher pulled or indefinitely postponed the book after CD flopped. It is also possible there was some sort of changing of the guard at HarperCollins - it happens all the time - and the new editors weren't as high on this as the old ones, so again they indefinitely shelved it. It's not a celebrity memoir and it's always possible that they felt there wasn't a market for it (false, IMHO, but book publishers don't always get things right).

There may well be some truth in this, it would suck to think it was shelved considering some of the vapid D listers that still seem to have biographies churned out.

I have to agree. When the Kardashians have numerous (ghostwritten) books out and this Axl book can't see the light of day, it's pretty sad.

I guess there's some truth in this. I pre-ordered the book some years ago with ECampus. The release date was October. But nothing happened. I got the message that the title was currently not available. Funny enough the book is still on their list:

http://www.ecampus.com/axl-life-times-axl-rose-guns-n-roses/bk/9780060786694&pos=5

[Brunzopolis]

Axl really wouldn't have any legal grounds to stop the book, any more than any other book that has been written about him. Unauthorized celebrity biographies are legal and I can't think of a judge who would side with him on it.

My hypothesis: if this was supposed to come out around the time CD did (2006 - 2008ish), it might be possible that the publisher pulled or indefinitely postponed the book after CD flopped. It is also possible there was some sort of changing of the guard at HarperCollins - it happens all the time - and the new editors weren't as high on this as the old ones, so again they indefinitely shelved it. It's not a celebrity memoir and it's always possible that they felt there wasn't a market for it (false, IMHO, but book publishers don't always get things right).

But, you can sue for "defamation", can you not?

This was hard to look up without falling asleep, but J.D. Salinger, Tom Cruise, and Steve Wynn (that casino guy) have all sued over unauthorized bio's. Maybe HarperCollns, even if they thought they could win their case, didn't want to go through all the hassle.

Or maybe too, it had something to do with your second point, or a combination of both.

Edited February 27, 2015 by Brunzopolis

[stella]

Axl really wouldn't have any legal grounds to stop the book, any more than any other book that has been written about him. Unauthorized celebrity biographies are legal and I can't think of a judge who would side with him on it.

My hypothesis: if this was supposed to come out around the time CD did (2006 - 2008ish), it might be possible that the publisher pulled or indefinitely postponed the book after CD flopped. It is also possible there was some sort of changing of the guard at HarperCollins - it happens all the time - and the new editors weren't as high on this as the old ones, so again they indefinitely shelved it. It's not a celebrity memoir and it's always possible that they felt there wasn't a market for it (false, IMHO, but book publishers don't always get things right).

But, you can sue for "defamation", can you not?

This was hard to look up without falling asleep, but J.D. Salinger, Tom Cruise, and Steve Wynn (that casino guy) have all sued over unauthorized bio's. Maybe HarperCollns, even if they thought they could win their case, didn't want to go through all the hassle.

Or maybe too, it had something to do with your second point, or a combination of both.

You can - it's considered to be libel if it's in print - but it's really hard to do, and there are actually different rules for public figures. A celebrity, as opposed to Joe Normal, has to be able to prove that not only was the material false, was KNOWN to be false, and caused tangible injury to reputation...but that the publication had malicious intent. The latter is not easy to prove. In addition you can't sue someone for making a true statement, such as reporting the contents of court cases, and there's also the right to fair comment for public figures- so the press has the right to make subjective comments that are unflattering.

In Steven Wynn's case, it was probably easy to win because of the nature of the libel. The guy in the case claimed that Wynn threatened to kill him and bury his body in the desert. Wynn had never even met the man, and it was clear that the comments were bald-faced, malicious lies that DID have the potential to harm Wynn's reputation severely. There have been other cases that have been won or settled out of court but the damage has to be severe. I looked up a bunch of cases tonight and there was one where a British newspaper claimed that Keira Knightley was responsible for the death of a young woman via anorexia - again, that was so false, and so damaging, that the court sided with Knightley.

Axl and most celebrities seem to shrug and wave off most unauthorized biographies. I actually think he has a libel case against Mick Wall- there's a lot of information in Wall's book that is patently false, and since Wall does have a grudge and an axe to grind they might actually be able to prove malicious intent - but he hasn't bothered. And I would say that if he hasn't bothered to sue over Mick Wall's book, IMHO it would be unlikely he'd sue over this new one. Especially if it was well researched and objective.

[Brunzopolis]

That was very educational. You really know your shit, Stella.

Surely, Saidman, having put in all this work, considered self-publishing? Or would that be fraught with potential obstacles too?

[stella]

Thank you. With some of the work I've done I've had to know legal stuff related to publishing...

With respect to self-publishing, perhaps. She'd need to get out of whatever contract she's under with HarperCollins first. If HarperCollins really does have the book on indefinite hold, she'd need them to release her from the contract. I'm going to make a strong guess that she has or had an agent, because HarperCollins usually doesn't accept unagented manuscripts. Therefore I would hope that her agent would be able to negotiate some sort of deal for HC to let her and the manuscript go if they just plan to sit on it forever.

If Scenario #2 is at all true - HarperCollins killed the book and decided they didn't want to publish it after all - she would be free to take the manuscript anywhere else or self-publish it.

Edited February 27, 2015 by stella

[alfierose]

That's interesting Stella. I wonder if there were some sort of legal issue it could be related to the details of his father's murder. As far as I'm aware it's a story that's never been told fully, possibly because he doesn't want to which is fair enough. I suppose some issues may have arisen around the details there.

[stella]

That's interesting Stella. I wonder if there were some sort of legal issue it could be related to the details of his father's murder. As far as I'm aware it's a story that's never been told fully, possibly because he doesn't want to which is fair enough. I suppose some issues may have arisen around the details there.

That's a good point. A very good point. And it definitely could have tied things up, I guess. Even with the above stuff I mentioned there's still a right to privacy even for celebrities, and telling such a sensitive story - that isn't necessary for people to know, and could cause a lot of emotional anguish to Axl and his family - could definitely be seen as a violastion of that.

And when I think of it, there are definitely cases where celebrities have won on that sort of thing. Years ago there was one with Roseanne Barr and IIRC she won. She'd placed a child for adoption when she was a teenager. When she became famous, one of the slimy tabloids tracked down the girl - who was only a teenager or early 20s - actually hid in her garage, and accosted her." And then they splashed information and photos of the girl all over the tabloids. IIRC both Roseanne and the girl won cases for invasion of privacy and emotional distress, and it was justified - there was no reason to do that at all.

I'm not saying Sorelle Saidman AT ALL is engaging in that sort of lurid nastiness or is a tabloid reporter, but if there's anything in there about Axl's father that isn't publicly known and has the potential to cause that sort of emotional harm, it could definitely be reason to tread very lightly or hold the book back.

Edited March 1, 2015 by stella

[appetite4illusions]

I remember pre-ordering this years ago. I paid the money and they still owe me the book!

I would hope that had her book made stores, it would have been leagues better than Mick Wall's. He basically just mined every GN'R interview he could for content. There was nothing new or enlightening in his biography. Almost everything could have been found on the archives of HereTodayGoneToHell. To get at the really juicy stuff of someone's life, you need someone that knew them intimately.

Izzy had a biography that got cancelled years back, too.

[alfierose]

Just bumping this because due to being off work for a week I was bored so decided to email Harper Collins about this book.

I sent them the amazon link and isbn numbers for it and they are as puzzled as us. According to the email I got back they have no record of it, she said it could have been an export but they have never had plans to distribute and won't be doing in the future.

So weird. How does a book get as far as having an isbn number, cover art, listing in all major bookstores and a Goodreads page (complete with star rating) and the publishers have no knowledge of it.

Answers on a postcard please....

[Słash]

Just bumping this because due to being off work for a week I was bored so decided to email Harper Collins about this book.

I sent them the amazon link and isbn numbers for it and they are as puzzled as us. According to the email I got back they have no record of it, she said it could have been an export but they have never had plans to distribute and won't be doing in the future.

So weird. How does a book get as far as having an isbn number, cover art, listing in all major bookstores and a Goodreads page (complete with star rating) and the publishers have no knowledge of it.

Answers on a postcard please....

Thanks for posting this, it is very weird, I had send a message to her on FB, but got no reply, I guess she really worked hard on this book and she was pretty excited to release it, I have a feeling that she got some threatening calls from the lawyers and she backed out. That guy, I forgot his name, he was releasing early recorded songs from Rapid fire, even then he got some threatening calls, but he kept on fighting and it went on for years.

[alfierose]

Just bumping this because due to being off work for a week I was bored so decided to email Harper Collins about this book.

I sent them the amazon link and isbn numbers for it and they are as puzzled as us. According to the email I got back they have no record of it, she said it could have been an export but they have never had plans to distribute and won't be doing in the future.

So weird. How does a book get as far as having an isbn number, cover art, listing in all major bookstores and a Goodreads page (complete with star rating) and the publishers have no knowledge of it.

Answers on a postcard please....

Thanks for posting this, it is very weird, I had send a message to her on FB, but got no reply, I guess she really worked hard on this book and she was pretty excited to release it, I have a feeling that she got some threatening calls from the lawyers and she backed out. That guy, I forgot his name, he was releasing early recorded songs from Rapid fire, even then he got some threatening calls, but he kept on fighting and it went on for years.

The author appears to have jacked in all media type work around 2012 when the book was last due to come out. She now runs a rabbit sanctuary in Canada.

[Słash]

I guess this will be a good question to ask to Fernando, maybe he would know something about it.

[Brunzopolis]

The author appears to have jacked in all media type work around 2012 when the book was last due to come out. She now runs a rabbit sanctuary in Canada.

That really struck me when I saw that.

All that legwork. All those interviews. All the, what I imagine, regular hassles of dealing with a publisher, added in with the additional hassles of this particular book.

Then there's the money. Maybe she got an advance. Maybe it wasn't much more than enough to live on while she did the research. Probably was counting on some decent royalty money once it started selling.

Then, once it got killed off, she must have been like "Fuck this shit. I'm not wasting anymore time in this game. Think I'll help some rabbits."

[ludurigan]

I remember pre-ordering this years ago. I paid the money and they still owe me the book!

I would hope that had her book made stores, it would have been leagues better than Mick Wall's. He basically just mined every GN'R interview he could for content. There was nothing new or enlightening in his biography. Almost everything could have been found on the archives of HereTodayGoneToHell. To get at the really juicy stuff of someone's life, you need someone that knew them intimately.

Izzy had a biography that got cancelled years back, too.

try OVER THE TOP by MARK PUTTERFORD released in 1993 or 1994 I guess

No HTGTH.com, no Google back then

terrific book

[ludurigan]

you know, on the other hand, pushing a book on Axl with :

I've conducted dozens and dozens of new interviews exclusively for the book, many of them with people who have never been interviewed before

is kind of a shot in the foot.

I mean, interview who? not Slash, that's for sure. So maybe... you and me? moderators? Jarmo? LAWL

interview who?

sorry for asking, but have you ever read a biography before?

pre-fame axl was a regular guy

by all accounts he went to school, he had friends, he led a somewhat regular life, then he had troubles with the law, then he moved to Hollywood and by all accounts he met a lot of people there

after gnr became famous axl has, by all accounts, met and befriended several people other than slash, izzy, duff, steven, matt etc

these are probably the people that this author interviewed for the book